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No. 607,949. Patented July 26, I898.,

I F. w. osmom. YIELDING AUTOMATIC CUTTER MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINE-S.

(Applilation filed June 4, 1897.)

6N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-8heet I.

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Attorneys.

No. 607,949. Patented July 26, I898.

F. w. OSTROM.

I YIELDING AUTOMATIC CUTTER MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed June 4, 1897.)

(No Model.)

2 SheetsShIeet 2.

E II I w tnesses mm: 5% 3355M X R Attorneys.

Tlnrrnn TATES FREELAND TV. OSTROM, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WVI-IEELER & WILSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

YIELDING AUTOMATIC CUTTER MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 607,949, dated July 26, 1898. Application filed June 4, 1897. Serial No. 639,399. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREELAND W. OSTROM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Yielding Automatic Cutter Mechanism for Sewing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

United States Patent N 0. 439,680, granted to me November 4, 1890, for improvements in sewingmachines, shows and describes the modern form of the well-known lVheeler & Wilson automatic buttonhole sewing and cutting machine. Aside from the well-known stitch-forming mechanism and cloth-clampactuating mechanism common to the Wheeler &; WVilson buttonhole-sewing machine, the mechanism shown and described in my said patent embodies automatic buttonhole-cutting mechanism in which is employed a broadbladed cutter to cut the buttonhole-slit by a single descent, and the descent of the cutter is automatically brought about by mechanism which positively and unyieldingly actuates said cutter when cutting the buttonhole-slit, while the cutteris returned to normal or ele vated position by means of a'spring. As is Well known, the cutter mechanism of said patent is normally out of operation- 01', in other words,is normally unhitched from the button hole-machine proper-and it'is brought into operation by afinger or trip actuated by the cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism, so that at a predetermined time in the operation of the cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism the cutter mechanism is thrown into operation to positively actuate the cutter.

In my present inventionI employ a cutter mechanism which, as in the patent referred to, is normally out of operation or unhitched from the buttonhole-sewing machine proper. A trip or finger like that in my former patent is employed to determineat what stage in the cycle of feed movement of the clothclamp-actuating mechanism or at what portion of the stitching of the buttonhole the cutter mechanism will be placed in condition precedent to adescent of the cutter, and other means governed by the stitch-forming mechanism are employed to determine at what stage in the making of a single lock-stitch the cutter will be yieldingly operated to cut a buttonhole-slit, and thereafter it is returned to normal position by a positive action of a portion of the stitch-forming mechanism. In this connection it is to be noted that the clothclamp, being reciprocated to govern the location of the edge and depth stitches of a single overseamstitoh, requires a substantially 6o newmechanism of peculiar accuracy and construction of. parts to bring about with certainty the descent of a yielding cutter to cut the buttonhole-slit in a machine employing a cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism having a jogging movement to locate the edge and depth stitches of a single OVerseam-stitch, for the reason that the cutter must be operated when the cloth-clamp, and consequently the material held by the cloth-clamp, is teinpo- 7o rarily stationary with relation to the needle mechanism.

I am aware that spring-actuated cutters have been employed in buttonhole-sewing machines having a vibrating needle to locate the edge and depth stitches of a single overseam-stitch and wherein the cloth-clamp has no jogging movement, but simply a lengthwise feed movement. I am aware also, as

in my patent above referred to, as well as in other patents in the prior art, that it is common to employ a positively-driven cutter in a machine employing a cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism to not only give a lengthwise feed to the cloth-clamp, but also a jogging movement thereto; but in such instances the cutter is made to descend for the greater portion of its downward movement in harmony with the descent of the needle, and consequently for a portion of such descent dun 9o ing a jogging actuation of the cloth-clamp.

The invention is described in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a rear side elevation of thewell- 5 known \Vheeler & lVilson automatic buttonhole sewing and cutting machine embodying my present invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly broken away, of the front of the head of the machine to show more clearly a part of the cutter-operating mechanism and the cutter-elevator attached to the needleoarrier.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the throat-plate having instead of an anvil a slot to receive the buttonhole-cutter. Fig. at is a view illustrating a cut and stitched buttonhole.

Referring to the drawings, A is the bedplate; B, the overhanging arm; 0, the head of the overhanging arm; D, the main shaft; E, the switch-cam; F, the take-up cam; G, the shaft-pulley; H, the cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism; I, the finger or trip mounted on the ratchet feed-wheel of the cloth-clampactuating mechanism; J, the needle-actuating shaft; K, the underlooping mechanism; L, the cloth-clamp; M, the finger of the bellcrank lever m, operating in connection with the finger or trip I; N, the needle bar; O and P, the mechanisms connecting said needlebar with the rocker-shaft J, all of which are in construction and operation like the same parts in my patent referred to, with the eX- ception of a modification of the arm P, to be referred to in particular hereinafter. Also 'the cutter-bar rock-shaft Q and the fork g at needle, vertically reciprocates in the head of the machine and has no lateral motion, and is thus distinguished from what is known as a vibrated needle, while, on the other hand, the cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism has, as is well known, a cycle of feed movement to carry the material held by said cloth-clamp lengthwise under the needle, so as to properly lay the overseam-stitches along both sides of the buttonhole and to bar each end of the buttonhole, while said cloth-clamp and its actuating mechanism have also the well-known jogging movement to move the cloth back and forth under the needle to locate the edge and depth stitches of said overseam-stitches. It is also well known in the art that the finger or trip I, mounted on the ratchet feed-wheel of the cloth-clamp-actuating mechanism, engages the arm M of the bell-crank lever m once during the overseaming of a single buttonhole, and said finger I is so located on the ratchet feed-wheel with relation to the buttonhole to be stitched and to the arm M of the bell-crank lever m that the cut of the buttonhole-slit will be brought about at a predetermined time in the stitching of the buttonhole.

Under these conditions I will now proceed to describe the parts which are involved in my present invention. When the finger M of the bell-crank lever m is engaged by the trip I on the ratchet feed-wheel and is moved on its axis, it turns the sleeve or upright portion m of said bell-crank lever, and

consequently the lug m, securely mounted on its upper end, in the direction indicated by the arrow, whereby said lug will bear against the snail-cam m fast on the cutter rock-shaft 1 the buttonhole-slit. in the absence of further mechanism about to be described the spring would depress the Q, and force said shaft longitudinally in its bearings toward the head 0 until said snail cam m is forced off the shoulder m, which is a part of or mounted upon the bracket 2, made fast to the arm of the machine. As soon as the snail-cam m is forced off the shoulder m against the stress of the spring R, which encircles the cutter rock-shaft Q between the head (3 of the overhanging arm and the pinch-collar r, adj ustably secured to the cutter rock-shaft Q, it will, with the cut ter rock-shaft Q, be slightly rotated by the spring R, and hence the said snail-cam, having been pushed forward free from the shoulder m (which is nothing more or less than a shelf or support to engage the snail-cam and prevent its rotation,) will turn slightly, as above stated, with said cutter rock-shaft Q, through the action of the spring R, for the reason that the spring is so arranged as to tend, when given opportunity so to do, to force the shaft longitudinally backward and also to turn the shaft in the direction of the arrow 00. The spring R, coiled about the rocker-shaft Q, also serves for its main function as the cutter-bar depressor to depress the cutter to out It will be observed that cutter-bar as soon as the lug m forced (through the operation of the trip or finger I and the bell-crank lever M) the snail-cam off its seat or shoulder m and hence by the action of said trip or finger I the cutter would be caused to descend through the operation of the spring R during the downward descent of the needle-bar, also during the jogging movement of the cloth-clamp and during the movement of the material under the needle. In my present invention this must be avoided, for the reason that if the buttonhole-slit were cut during a movement of the cloth under the needle the slit would be cut in the wrong place and the goods would drag against the cutter, or, on the other hand, the cutter might fail to cut at all, because the cutter-bar rockershaft being rotated by the spring R at such stage the arm q, secured to the forward end of the cutter-bar rocker-shaft,would carry the cutter-bar collar-guide q downward, and with it the cutter-bar, and said guide would contact with the cutter-bar elevator g fast on the needle-bar, and substantially destroy the force of the depressing-spring R before the cutter could reach the material. To obviate these difficulties and to make certain the proper operation of the depressor-spring R, and hence the proper action of the knife to cut the buttonhole-slit only at that portion of the making of a single lock-stitch during which the material is temporarily stationary under the needle, I provide the following mechanism:

Mounted upon the bolt g which passes through the forked arm q and enters the rocker-shaft Q, is the pivoted lever h, the free end of which has a projection or boss h, (see Fig. 1,) which bears against the front end of the need]e-bar-operating shaft J. In connection with the under side of the lever P, I provide a curvilinear shoulder or projection 7L2, disposed below the boss or shoulder h of the pivoted lever h. The purpose of these parts is as follows: As soon as the snail-cam m is by the operation of the lug m thrust free of its seat or shoulder m the spring R, as before described,slightly turns the cutter-bar rockershaft Q on its axis in the direction of the arrow. In this movement of said shaft the boss or shoulder h of the lever his thrown from its position shown in Fig. 1 down against the upper or inner face of the curvilinear shoulder 77?, whereby further rotation of the cutter-bar rocker-shaft Q by the de pressor-sprin g R is prevented. The shoulder h is so arranged with relation to the oscillation of the arm P, and consequently with relation to the movements of the needle, that the boss h of the lever it cannot escape from said shoulder b until the material through the action of the clothclamp-actuating mechanism is temporarily stationary under the needle and the cutterbar elevator g is carried by the needle-bar N to a point at or below the lowest downward travel of the cutter-bar collarguide \Vhen under such conditions the boss h is released from the shoulder h by the latter being carried away from under the former in the oscillatory movement of the arm P, the boss It will by the depressor-spring R be carried past the end of the shoulder 77. on the arm P, and thus the depressor-spring willbe permitted to exert its full force upon the out ter-bar to depress the latter and cut the goods free from interference in its downward movement by the cutter-elevator g As soon as the cutter-bar has been depressed by the depressor-spring R the needle-bar in its next upward excursion will cause the cutter-bar elevator g to contact with the under side of the cutter-bar collar-guide q and against the stress of the depressor-spring R lift said outter-bar to a position sufficiently high to permit the. snail-cam m to be forced backward by the depressor-spring R, which, as before stated, always tends to thrust the cutter-bar rock-shaft Q longitudinally backward. As soon as the snail-cam m finds a rest upon the shoulder m rotation of the cutter-bar rockshaft will be preventedby said snail-cam m because of its cam-surface. Hence the cutter-bar, with its cutter, will be normally maintained in elevated position.

Common with the operation of the snailcam of the mechanism shown in my patent above referred to, in the present instance when the cutter-bar rock-shaft is rotated by the depressor-spring R to cause a descent of the cutter the snail-cam is also turned, so that it forces downward the bell-crank lever m against the stress of the spring 3 to release the arm M of said lever from the trip or finger I.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the throat-plate set forth in United States Patent No. 367,315,

i be noticed that the under side of the shoulder 72, of the arm P is beveled, and, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, a stop 71 is secured to the rear side of the forked arm q, while the spring 72 is secured to the front side of the said forked arm, both stop and spring bearing against the lever h. The stop 71 prevents the lever from having a backward movement beyond the face of the arm P, while the spring h serves to yieldingly hold the lever it against said stop 72, so that when the cutter-bar is elevated by the cutter-elevator g the shoulder h of the lever h will ride by the beveled surface and across the face of the shoulder until it passes above said shoulder, and is then forced against the end of the shaft J by said spring h. This will be more clearly understood when it is borne in'mind that the shoulder 72/ is returning to its -normal position (shown in Fig. 2) before the elevator g proceeds to lift the cutter-bar, and conse quently when the cutter-bar is lifted the shoulder 72, of the lever 7t must, as stated above, ride over the elevated surface and across the face of the shoulder 77, to obtain its normal position. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

I claim- 1. In a machine for stitching buttonholes, the combination with a stitch-forming mech anism a work-clamp; and mechanism for giving to the work-clamp a vibratory movement and a feed movement; of a cutter; a cutter-carrier; a cutter-depressor; connections between said cutter carrier and depressor; a device governed by the clamp-operating mechanism; connections between said device and depressor; a depressor-releasing device controlled by the stitch-forming mechanism for governing the operation of the depressor; and connections between said releasing device and depressor, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for stitching buttonholes, the combination with a stitch-forming mechanism; a work-clamp; and mechanism for giving to thework-clamp a vibratory move ment and a feed movement; of a cutter; a cutter-carrier a normally-inoperative cutterdepressor; connections between said cutter carrier and depressor; a device governed by the clamp operatin g mechanism; connections between said device and depressor to render the depressor active or operative; and a de pressor-releasing device,one member of which is connected with the stitch-forming mechanism and the other, by connections, with the depressor, whereby upon separation of said members through the operation of the stitch-forming mechanism the depressor is free to depress the cutter-carrier, and its cutter, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for stitching buttonholes, the combination with a stitch-forming mechanism; a work-clamp; and mechanism for operating the latter; of a cutter; a cuttercarrier; a yielding, self-operating cutter-depressor; connections between said cutter carrier and depressor; a restraining-cam to restrain the depressor from action; a device rotating in unison with the clamp-operating FREELAND W. OSTROM.

Witnesses:

J AS. A. BRANNIGAN, JULIUS H. GORI-IAM. 

